Cardinal Ratzinger becomes Pope Benedict XVI :: Charter'97 :: News

Even though freedom of thought is often considered a supreme ideal in the advanced western world, a two-thirds majority of Catholic cardinals opted yesterday for the unfashionable virtue of obedience in electing German Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope.

"Papa! Papa! Papa!" shouted some in the crowd of about 50,000 who gathered in St. Peter`s Square to witness the choosing of the first pope in 26 years.

Outside North America, "Papa" is one of the traditional names for the pope.

It emphasizes the way many see the monarch-like leader of the one-billion-member Roman Catholic Church: As a respected father figure who is to be completely trusted to embody ultimate divine truth. In much of the world, Roman Catholicism`s "Papa" is not to be questioned.

Even though the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI doesn`t hail from the Third World, his papacy will probably play well among traditional Catholics in Latin America, where almost half of the church`s members live and where, it is said, questioning authority is not quite the habit it is in North America and Europe. They would have preferred one of their countrymen, but Benedict will be a popular second choice.

He should also play well in Africa, where the Catholic Church is growing fast in competition with Islam, which is more conservative than official Catholicism when it comes to such things as sexuality and the role of women.

Liberal and moderate Catholics in North America and Europe are clearly the losers with Benedict.

They`re already expressing a disappointment that is close to bitter, nicknaming then-Cardinal Ratzinger "Cardinal No" for the way he adamantly opposed married priests, female priests, contraception, homosexual activity, abortion in all cases and more.

As chief adviser to Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger always acted tough on doctrine, even while poll after poll showed a large majority of North American and European Catholics disagreed with his stands.

For 24 years, Cardinal Ratzinger was the man in charge of disciplining wayward Catholics on sex-related issues; he also cut no slack for free-thinking Catholic professors, or Latin American Liberation theologians, who wanted to stretch the traditional understandings of the nature of the divine.

Paul Wilkes, a moderate American Catholic who has written several anguished books about the future of his beloved church, said yesterday that Cardinal Ratzinger has pushed too many people outside of the Roman Catholic Church.

While Jesus was "inclusive," Mr. Wilkes said, Cardinal Ratzinger has always been "exclusive."

The rapid decline in attendance rates among North American and European Catholics, as not even one in three baptized Catholics shows up regularly for church, will no doubt continue under Benedict.

John Paul II, who died on April 2 at age 84, was, like Benedict, also strongly conservative on theological issues.

Still, commentators say one of John Paul`s big strengths was his charisma.

But few have accused Benedict, a German academic, of having the kind of telegenic appeal of Karol Wojtyla.